


Outside The Box

by Miss_Six



Series: Gadbois Tech International [2]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M, alternate POV, desk job au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-19 06:11:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14868230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Six/pseuds/Miss_Six
Summary: Scott glances over the rest of the table; there’s Andrew, and a blonde woman Scott saw walk by earlier, and then his glance is locked on a pair of gorgeous green eyes and time just seems to stand still for a moment as he takes in the sweet-faced brunette staring back at him.Jesus, Moir, don’t be a creep, he thinks to himself, and he smiles and waves and feels immense relief when she gives him a tentative wave back.And a little voice in the back of Scott’s head whispers oh, you’re why I’m here.[or]The Company Ink, from Scott's POV





	1. November

**Author's Note:**

> I lied. This is probably going to be roughly equivalent to The Company Ink, length-wise. I don't even know. Scott has a lot of Opinions.

**The First Day**

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_

Scott’s already awake and out of bed by the second beep, but he can’t find his phone. Didn’t he plug it in by the bed?

_BEEP BEEP BEEP_

No, the outlet was too far back behind the bed for his cord to reach, so - “There you are, you bastard!” He snatches it off the bathroom counter and turns the alarm off.

What a way to start the morning.

Scott’s been in Denver for all of two days, just long enough to walk the route he’s going to take to the building he’ll be working in and find the suitcase his work clothes are in so he can run them through the dryer (god knows where the iron is. Does he own an iron?)

Shower, shave, put on something first-day appropriate. Should he wear the suit? Patch told him the Denver office was pretty casual - no suit. Scott grabs a blue button-down and some gray slacks out of his closet. He’ll fit right in.

It’s a brisk morning out, cold enough that Scott has to go back inside and grab a jacket. _Guess I need to check the weather._

Moving 2500 kilometers away from home hadn’t been as impulsive as it seemed at first glance. Back in Toronto, Scott had a comfortable job and a comfortable house (he still has the house, but now it’s being rented to a lovely young couple who swore they’d take good care of it) and almost a comfortable relationship, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was out there, waiting for him. The open position in Denver was an out-of-the blue offer, and when Patch told him about it, something deep in his subconscious had whispered _this is it._ This was the universe telling him to get off his ass and go.

The fact that the company was covering his moving costs didn’t hurt, either.

So Scott had ended his almost-relationship with the girl he’d been sort-of dating for the past year, packed up his stuff, and went.

The entrance to his new office building is wedged between a couple of restaurants, and when he pushes through the revolving door, the doorman at the desk eyes him suspiciously. “Are you looking for the Paramount?” he asks. “They’re closed until 11.”

“Uh, no - Gadbois Technology?” Scott says. The guy looks like he’s pushing 70 and maybe 45 kilos soaking wet, but also like he would fight Scott in half a heartbeat, so he stands still and lets himself be interrogated. “Fifth floor?”

“I’m going to call them,” the guy says, and manages to pick up a phone and dial a number without ever taking breaking eye contact. “Hi, I have someone down here who says he’s with Gadbois? Yeah - what’s your name?” he asks.

“Scott,” he replies. “Moir.”

“Scott Moore,” Scrappy says into the phone. “Thank you.” He hangs up. “Doug is coming down to get you.”

Scott has never felt more like a new kid on the first day of school. Doug comes down to get him, introduces him to the doorman, and apologizes once the elevator doors close. “Don’t mind Al,” Doug says. “He takes his job seriously.”

Patch hadn’t been kidding when he said the Denver office was more casual. Walking through he spies baseball caps, jeans, t-shirts, and a couple of people in shorts and flip-flops. “Obviously there’s some restrictions, but just wear what you’re comfortable in,” Doug says, and shows him to his desk. “We do co-located seating here, so you’re sitting with your team.”

Scott looks around at the mostly empty desks. “Are they in today?” he asks, and Doug laughs.

“They tend to show up a little later. Although Andrew likes to get in early.” The one man sitting at his desk looks up at them and waves, then goes back to whatever he’s doing.

The next stop is Doug’s office, where Scott is loaded down with binders full of documentation and a quick summary of the project he’ll be taking over, which still takes half an hour. Through the glass doors Scott can see people trickling into the office, and staring at him as they pass. It’s adding to that first-day-of-school feeling.

“Oh, shit, we’ve got to get to standup,” Doug says, and Scott follows him to a conference room where everyone is, in fact, sitting down. The couple of people sitting closest to the front introduce themselves - Patrick “but call me Chiddy, there’s three Patricks working here” and Annette. Scott glances over the rest of the table; there’s Andrew, and a blonde woman Scott saw walk by earlier, and then his glance is locked on a pair of gorgeous green eyes and time just seems to stand still for a moment as he takes in the sweet-faced brunette staring back at him.

 _Jesus, Moir, don’t be a creep,_ he thinks to himself, and he smiles and waves and feels immense relief when she gives him a tentative wave back.

And a little voice in the back of Scott’s head whispers _oh, you’re why I’m here._

He dismisses it quickly so he can pay attention to everyone’s updates, but in less than fifteen minutes he learns that her name is Tessa, she’s a developer(read:smart), and - thanks to her chair screeching like a banshee at an inopportune time - she’s funny as hell. He can’t help but admire how quickly she rolls with the moment and makes the whole room laugh.

As everyone is leaving Doug tells him “Tessa’s the lead developer for this team, when she’s not almost choking on her breakfast. Tessa, do you have time to demo the latest build for Scott today?”

She’s his _lead_ developer. Make that very smart.  
  
Tessa beams at him. “Oh, absolutely. I’ll make time.”

This is going to be a problem.

 

**The Ramp-Up**

It turns out six months of work on top of all the planning that went into that work is...a lot of information.

Tessa’s been helping him learn the platform and get his head around all the technical requirements, and it’s unbelievable how much information she has stored in her brain. Also unfortunate, because that means Scott spends 75% of his time at her desk.

He’s entirely to blame for this, because he can’t seem to stop cracking ridiculous jokes to make her laugh. It’s a nervous tic he has, Scott’s always used humor to defuse situations, but with Tessa there’s that added satisfaction of hearing her laughter and knowing she thinks he’s funny.

So she gets all his material, from the top-shelf technical jokes that only a fellow nerd could love to the low-level puns and even a couple of embarrassing stories from college. They just kind of spill out of his mouth whenever she looks at him with those amazing eyes.

“You ready for this user matrix breakdown?” he asks her when they get back from standup. “Hang on, let me roll my sleeves up for this.” He makes a big show of rolling the sleeves of his Henley up to his elbows and is rewarded with that sweet rolling giggle he was hoping for.

“Good thing you did, because this matrix is a piece of work,” Tessa says. “Hope you don’t mind losing the next three hours of your life you can never get back.”

He groans, but looking at her, Scott doesn’t actually think he minds that much.

 

**The Drill Down**

It’s an utter lack of impulse control, and he knows it.

23 days into his tenure in Denver and Scott has made a fool of himself in front of Tessa approximately twice a day. She knows he can do a spot-on impression of the lead database admin in Toronto, can do a handstand (thanks, Chiddy, for encouraging that one), can recite entire scenes from The Big Lebowski on demand and, oh yeah, she knows all about the Sofa Incident from sophomore year.

He does not, however, know a whole hell of a lot about Tessa Virtue. Their conversation is always easy, like she’s an old friend he’s just catching up with, but the topics tend to be superficial. The most he’s gotten out of her was that she’s never had a guy walk her home, after he so generously invited himself to walk her home.

And he’s got to reel it in. Scott has never had a lot of respect for his colleagues that chased after the women they worked with, thinks it’s honestly a shitty thing to do, and yet here he is acting like an absolute fool in front of a woman he works with. His _lead developer_ , no less. In a city he just moved to, at an office where he really should be on his best behavior until he’s on more solid footing with everyone.

She’s just...a big mystery to him. And Scott has always loved mysteries.

“Lunch, man?” Andrew’s at his elbow already holding his sunglasses, and Chiddy is getting his jacket on. “We’re gonna hit Menya for some ramen.”

“Sure, sounds great.” Scott grabs his jacket and they head out of the building into a day that looks like it should be warm but definitely isn’t.

“So where’d Tessa go?” Chiddy asks him as they walk down 16th.

“Maggiano’s with Kaitlyn,” he replies without even really thinking about it. “They wanted Italian.”

“You guys are getting pretty close,” Andrew says, and sirens start going off in Scott’s head.

“She’s great to work with,” he says quickly. “I have to ask her about a million questions every day and she hasn’t killed me yet.”

“That’s because you’re not an asshole,” Chiddy says. “We had a guy before you - what was his name?”

“Bradley,” Andrew says, the distaste obvious in his voice.

“Oh yeah, Bradley,” Chiddy says. “Bradley didn’t like it when Tessa pushed back on anything. He didn’t last long.”

“What, did she get him fired?” Scott asks, trying not to sound alarmed.

“Not directly,” Andrew says. “I mean, he sucked at his job to begin with. But when you suck at your job and you can’t work with your lead dev, it’s kind of a no-brainer.”

“She finally went to Doug and said, ‘it’s him or me,’” Chiddy fills in. “It was pretty awesome, none of us were sad to see him go. I think she’s just relieved you give a shit about the project.”

Scott feels a little relieved himself. “Well, yeah. It’s my fucking job to give a shit about the project, right?”

“Amen to that,” Chiddy says, opening the door to Menya.

Scott manages to keep the conversation on things besides Tessa for most of their lunch, but it drifts back as they start talking about vacation time during the upcoming holidays. “I don’t think she’s even going home for Christmas,” Andrew says. “She hasn’t taken a vacation day since March. Not even over the summer.”

“Really?” Scott asks. “I guess that doesn’t surprise me, she’s committed.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Chiddy responds. “I mean it’s one of her best qualities, but I’m starting to worry she’s gonna burn out.”

Scott goes quiet, contemplating this information. Developer burnout is no joke. “I’ll talk to her. Maybe I can get her to take some time off for Christmas."

“Good luck on that,” Andrew says, looking doubtful.

Tessa’s already back at her desk when they return from lunch, and Scott plops into the empty desk chair next to her that has been reserved for their brain dump sessions. “I learned something just now,” he says, and she quickly removes her headphones and looks at him questioningly. “I found out you’re not taking any time off for Christmas.”

“I don’t really need to, I’ve got family flying out and they’re going to hang out in the city while I’m working,” she says, but he’s already shaking his head.

“Seriously, Tessa. You know everyone’s going to be out, and Toronto might as well shut down the office that week. You should take the week after Christmas, spend more time with your family.”

She’s gnawing on the corner of her mouth as he talks. It’s adorable. “I guess you’re right,” she says finally. “Christmas is on a Monday anyway.”

“See?” Scott says. “Go put it on the calendar, you know Doug won’t tell you no.”

A slow smile lights up her features, and Scott feels like Christmas came early this year.

 

**The Impasse**

“You don’t have to keep buying my drinks,” Tessa tells him at happy hour.

“I know, but I feel like I need to keep you happy so I don’t have to feel guilty about how you’ve been doing half my job for me,” he says, and she laughs.

“You’re picking it up! You ran that meeting today about the user profile requirements like a boss,” she says, and his chest involuntarily puffs out just a little at her praise, then deflates almost immediately.

“Only because you already had the powerpoint presentation ready to go,” he says.

“Only because we were supposed to have this meeting before you started in Denver, and Doug told me to do it,” she counters. “Come on, where’s that Scott Moir confidence we know and love?”

“Confident Scott is kind of an idiot,” he confides, and she laughs again.

“Well, Confident Tessa isn’t much better,” she says.

“Confident Scott and Confident Tessa should have coffee sometime to talk about their insecure alter egos,” he says, and he’s entirely joking, but it’s like a wall comes down over her features and he has the distinct impression he said something wrong. “You okay? Did I say something?”

“No, no,” she reassures him. “Sorry, it’s fine. Um...I need some water. Do you need some water?”

Tessa bolts for the bar, and Scott keeps the conversation on work until they all head home.

He’s on the phone with his brother Danny later that night, just filling him in on work and living in Colorado when his brother stops him. “So, Tessa...is she your boss, or…?”

“She’s not my boss, but it feels like it sometimes,” he says. “She’s the lead programmer on my team, and it’s like she can do my job and hers without breaking a sweat.”

“I’m just asking because the way you talk about her, she doesn’t sound like a coworker,” Danny says, and Scott starts feeling a little panicky again.

“The culture is really different out here,” he tries to explain. “Like, there is no nine-to-five, punch out and go home. Everyone’s really close.”

“I get that, and I get that you’re in a brand new place and don’t know anyone, I do,” Danny says. “I just wanted to remind you...make sure you keep your pen out of the company ink, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks bro,” Scott replies. “Glad you’re so concerned with where my pen’s at.”

“Ugh, I didn’t even want to think about that, so thanks a lot,” Danny says. “I retract what I said. Put that pen anywhere you want, just don’t tell me about it.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Scott says drily. “I’m gonna go, need to go bleach my brain after that conversation.”

He hangs up with Danny and looks out his window, and tries not to think about how defensive he felt being called out. He has no intention of putting his pen anywhere near Tessa Virtue.

Not that he’d mind.

_Goddamnit Moir._


	2. December

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six weeks in and Scott is finally starting to feel like he’s got things under control. He’s successfully run his first planning session, is taking calls without having to consult with Doug, and can have entire conversations with Tessa where he doesn’t think about her in a completely unprofessional context.
> 
> Okay, almost entire conversations. But it’s much less than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this! Some of it is familiar ground, but maybe not quite...

**The Singles Club**

Six weeks in and Scott is finally starting to feel like he’s got things under control. He’s successfully run his first planning session, is taking calls without having to consult with Doug, and can have entire conversations with Tessa where he doesn’t think about her in a completely unprofessional context.

Okay, _almost_ entire conversations. But it’s much less than before.

Danny wasn’t wrong to be concerned. Not that Scott needed to be reminded not to date coworkers, but pursuing Tessa in particular would be risky. She’s his teammate, the one he has to work the closest with, and it would probably end with him screwing up a whole team dynamic, sinking a project, and slinking back to Toronto with his tail between his legs (and a rather large sum of money owed to Gadbois because his transfer contract stipulated that he had to stay in Denver for a year or pay back all his moving costs).

Given all that, Scott’s content to let it ride. Especially after having had some conversations with Tessa about her frustrations with being a woman in a male dominated field; based on what she’s said about how she’s been treated in the past, he’s kind of amazed she associates with him at all.

Also thrilled that she chooses to associate with him, if he’s being honest.

 

 **S.Moir:** good morning!

 **S.Moir:** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U>

**T.Virtue:** You’re in a good mood today! Good night?

 **T.Virtue:** [ https://youtu.be/wa2nLEhUcZ0 ](https://youtu.be/wa2nLEhUcZ0)

**S.Moir:** oh, excellent pick

 **S.Moir:** i just woke up in a really good mood this morning.

 **S.Moir:** feels like everything’s coming together

 **T.Virtue:** That’s so great! Moving was a rough adjustment for me, but I love it here now.

 **S.Moir:** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFWDGTVYqE8>

**S.Moir:** it could be worse. i could be living in whatever town that was where dancing was illegal

 **T.Virtue:** I’m pretty sure that’s just a movie.

 **S.Moir:** based on a true story, google it!

 **T.Virtue:** Well I’ll be damned.

 **T.Virtue:** _Very loosely_ based on a true story, but I’ll allow it.

 

They’ve had a running exchange of music videos via YouTube, through which Scott has learned that Tessa very much enjoys Taylor Swift, her first concert was Avril Lavigne when she was 15 with her sister, and she had a short-lived goth phase as a teenager (which Scott lightly mocked her for but really he finds it kinda hot). She still knows way more about him, but he’s starting to feel like they’re on more equal footing now.

It also helps that he’s managed to stop spilling his guts to her every time they have a conversation. Whatever schoolyard impulses were pushing him to show off in front of Tessa like he was performing some kind of bizarre courtship ritual seem to be subsiding, and he can just talk to her like a human being who understands social norms.

Happy hours are a lot more pleasant now that he’s not constantly embarrassing himself.

“I’m gonna get another beer, anybody else need another one?” Chiddy stands up from his stool and looks around at the team inquiringly.

Scott holds up his glass. “Yeah, can you get me another...what’s this called again?” he asks Tessa, the name of the beer in his hand evading him.

“It’s the Accumulation IPA,” she replies offhandedly as she’s putting on her jacket. “New Belgium.”

“Yeah, that.” He turns back to Tessa. “You leaving for your hair appointment? Gonna come in tomorrow a platinum blonde?”

She wrinkles her nose. “Blech, I’d look horrible. If I was going to change my hair color I’d go red.”

“I could see that,” Scott says. “You’d look like Nicole Kidman a little, I think.”

“Shut your mouth, I would not,” she laughs, but there’s a slight tinge in her cheeks. “I gotta go or I’ll be late.”

Everyone calls out their goodbyes to her and Chiddy hands him another beer. “Thanks, man. You got plans this weekend?”

“I think we’re just going to hang out at home, take it easy,” Chiddy says. “The company Christmas party is next week.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Kaitlyn exclaims from her barstool. “Scott, are you bringing anyone?”

He laughs. “Right, like I’ve got time to meet someone,” he says. “I’m not bringing a date. What about you?”

“Tessa’s my date,” Kaitlyn says, and winks at him. “I’m a lucky girl, right?”

“Damn right, Tessa’s amazing,” he replies, hearing the words come out of his mouth but being unable to stop them. “I mean, she’s such a great lead. I wouldn’t be able to do my job without her.” _Shut up already, Moir!_ “What about you, Andrew?”

“Same problem as you, man.” Andrew shrugs. “I could try Tinder, but...nah.”

“Oh, god, anything but Tinder,” Kaitlyn says. “Remember the last girl you found on there?”

“She wasn’t that bad,” Andrew protests, and Kaitlyn rolls her eyes.

“She tried to move in with you after two weeks!” Kaitlyn counters, and Andrew grimaces.

“Yeah, okay. Fair point,” he concedes. “Still, Chiddy found his girlfriend on Tinder.”

“It’s a numbers game,” Chiddy says. “Emily was actually the last Tinder date I was going to go on before giving up on it completely. I got lucky.”

“See?” Andrew says to Kaitlyn triumphantly. “It could still happen. Maybe Scott should get on there.”

“Oh, _hell_ no,” Scott says, not wanting to be in the middle of whatever it is that’s happening. “I definitely don’t have time to go on a million dates, and get ghosted for half of them anyway.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Andrew says, and they all toast.

The conversation moves on to stories from last year’s party, and Scott listens to them and tries to ignore the relief he feels that Tessa’s not bringing a date, either.

 

**The Christmas Party**

Scott owns approximately six nice dress shirts, two suits, and five ties, all carefully chosen to be interchangeable, and yet he cannot find a combination he’s happy with, despite leaving work an hour early to give himself plenty of time.

“This is ridiculous,” he says to himself in the mirror. He shouldn’t care this much about finding something to wear to a company party where a good portion of the attendees will probably be wearing baseball caps and jeans, but he also doesn’t want to look like a total slob. The reasons _why_ he doesn’t want to look like a total slob probably have something to do with Tessa, but Scott is not about to examine those reasons now, when he’s standing pantsless in his bathroom wearing socks, a dark purple dress shirt, and a black tie.

Finally he throws on his black suit pants, decides to forgo the suit jacket, and calls it good. He’s probably overdressed, but better over than under, right?

There’s only a handful of people already there when he walks through the doors of Punch Bowl Social, and fortunately Andrew is one of them.

“Hey man, glad you made it,” Andrew says. “You need a drink? There’s servers coming around.”

Sure enough a server materializes next to him, and a few minutes later Scott is drinking some kind of beer that tastes faintly like pine needles and playing darts with Andrew. “You hear from Kaitlyn? I’m surprised she’s not here yet, she sounded ready to throw down earlier.”

Andrew checks his phone. “She says at least half an hour because Tessa’s being slow.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Scott asks, laughing, and Andrew shrugs.

“I dunno, they like to get dressed up for these things,” he says, and Scott immediately feels better about his own sartorial choices.

Chiddy and his girlfriend arrive, and they make introductions and continue to play darts and socialize as more and more people fill the space, and then Kaitlyn is at his elbow and Scott almost throws a dart into the crowd.

“Hey guys!” she greets them, and he sees what Andrew meant by “dressed up”. Kaitlyn’s dress is red and gauzy and matches her lipstick. “Anybody know where a girl can get a drink in this place?”

Scott flags down a server for her and Kaitlyn places her order. “You look great,” he says, and Kaitlyn does a little spin to show off her dress.

“Thanks, but you should see what Tessa’s wearing,” she says, leaning in conspiratorially, and Scott tries to keep his face neutral so Kaitlyn can’t tell his heart just jumped into his throat. “I helped her pick it out.”

“You obviously have good taste, so I’m sure she looks amazing,” he manages to get out, and he’s saved by the delivery of Kaitlyn’s drinks.

She takes one in each hand and nudges Scott with her elbow. “We’re over there, come say hi.”

Obediently Scott follows her through the crowd, and as he weaves around Erica from marketing Tessa comes into view, and his heart is still in his throat only now it’s racing.

 _Resplendent_ is the only word that comes to mind as he takes her in. Her hair is up, and she’s wearing a dress with a modest cut but the color is a glorious royal blue that seems to make her pale skin glow and her eyes look an even more brilliant green. She’s talking to Annette and Annette’s boyfriend Chris, and when she spots him her eyes light up and she gives him a shy smile that makes him feel a little lightheaded.

“Look who’s here!” Kaitlyn says, and Scott leans in to hug her and discovers that her dress is backless when his hand touches bare skin.

Something like an electric shock courses through him and quickly he shifts his hand over to where he can feel fabric, hoping she doesn’t think he did that on purpose. “Glad you made it!”

They all make conversation while Scott tries not to stare at Tessa, and he learns that the booze will be free all night and there will probably be sex toys in the gift exchange. He is more surprised that Tessa is the one who informs him of that fact.

“I can see why you like it out here so much,” he says to her. “Not because of the sex toys,” he adds quickly, and she giggles. “It’s just so much more relaxed. It’s a lot easier to get to know everyone when you’re not, you know. In that corporate kind of environment.”

Tessa nods. “I know what you mean,” she says. “We get a lot of freedom out here. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, but I love that we get to make our own decisions instead of getting them handed down from on high.”

“So what made you decide to move out here, if you don’t mind me asking?” He’s hoping he isn’t getting too personal, but she doesn’t seem offended, just thoughtful.

“It was more to advance my career than anything else,” she says. “I’ve been with Gadbois for almost three years now, and they offered me a lead position if I came here. And Denver’s got a great tech industry, so it just made sense. What about you?”

“I needed a change,” he admits. “I’ve spent most of my adult life within driving distance of my folks. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, you know?”

“I don’t, actually,” Tessa says, laughing. “I have a really hard time with that. But I’m glad I did it.”

“Me too,” Scott says, and maybe he held her gaze for just a bit too long because she looks away first.

“I think they’re starting the gift exchange,” Tessa says softly. “I should probably get over there.”

“Oh, yeah, go ahead,” he tells her, and he catches a glimpse of her back as she walks away to the table full of gifts. Even her back is beautiful. _God damn I am in so much trouble._

Afterwards he finds her tucked away in a corner, scrutinizing the box she received. He recognizes the picture on the packaging. “That’s pretty neat,” he says of the little bubble machine. “My niece has one of those, they work better than you’d expect.”  
  
“Yeah?” Tessa says. “I’m going to put it in my kitchen and have bubble dance parties.”  
  
“You better call me up, that sounds better than a club,” he laughs, then cringes inwardly at his bad joke.  
  
She gives him a half smile, and looks back down at the box. “I think I’m going to step out for a little air.”  
  
“You feeling ok? Do you need food or anything?” Oh god, did his joke actually make her sick?

“No, it’s just getting stuffy in here,” she says, waving a hand around her face as she gets up.  
  
“Why don’t you go out on the patio, and I’ll grab you another drink,” he says. “Vodka soda, right?”  
  
She nods and he’s off in search of a server. As he’s waiting for their drinks, something smacks him on the side of his head, and he spins around to find Kaitlin holding up Chiddy’s prize from the gift exchange, a stick with a sprig of plastic mistletoe dangling from one end. Andrew is standing next to her, holding up Kaitlyn.

“Surprise! Where’s Tessa?” Kaitlyn asks, giggling so hard Scott can hardly make out what she’s saying.

“She’s outside, she said she needed some air,” he says, and Kaitlyn blows a raspberry and she and Andrew lurch off in search of their next victim.  
  
Scott carries the drinks outside and walks over to where Tessa is standing next to the gas fireplace. He hands her the vodka soda and they stand and drink in silence, listening to the chatter of passers-by and the sounds of traffic on wet pavement.  
  
“Thanks for getting my drink,” she says finally. “I love those guys, but...they’re a lot sometimes.”  
  
“No problem, I completely understand.” Especially after seeing the state Kaitlyn and Andrew were in. He pauses for a long moment before saying anything else. “You look really nice tonight.”  
  
“Thank you,” she replies, without looking at him. “You look nice too.”  
  
“I’m a guy, all I had to do was put on a tie,” he says. Even though he swears neither of them is moving, somehow they’re getting closer together. Tessa wraps her free arm around herself and shivers, and he reflexively puts an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder. “You cold? We can go in.”  
  
She turns to him and opens her mouth to speak, and then something hits her in the face. He drops his hand like he was touching a lit stove and they both turn around so quickly Scott’s beer spills a little even though he already knows who’s behind them, and what they’re holding.  
  
“You’re under the mistletoe, you have to kiss!” Kaitlyn crows, Andrew laughing next to her.  
  
“Very funny,” Tessa says. “We’re going in.”  
  
“No,” Kaitlyn pouts. “I don’t make the rules.”  
  
Tessa sighs, and it sounds like long-suffering exasperation. “Kaitlyn, seriously.”  
  
They stand there for what feels like an awkward eternity, and Scott caves first, bending over to very quickly give her cheek the lightest of kisses. Kaitlyn and Andrew cheer and somehow walk themselves back through the door.

Next to him Tessa makes a sound that is either a very nervous laugh or a very high-pitched cough. “I think I should probably go.”

Scott’s already got his phone out. “I’ll get us a ride.”  
  
“Oh, you don’t have to leave!” she says, trying to push his phone away. “You’re having fun, don’t leave just because of me.”  
  
“I’ve had enough fun for tonight, I think,” he says, and easily steps back so he can continue requesting a car. “You guys party way harder than what I’m used to.”

He waits for the car while Tessa goes back inside to get the rest of her things, and it pulls up before she comes back out. The driver rolls down the window. “Hey man, are you Scott?”

“Yeah, that’s me. One sec,” he calls back, and just then Tessa emerges from the building behind him. He holds open the patio gate for her and then the back passenger door when he sees her wobble a little on the way to the car.

Scott is somewhat aware that he’s talking to their driver, but his attention is focused on the backseat. Even though he can’t see her at all from where he’s sitting he can’t help but be aware of her behind him. When they pull up to her building he jumps out of the car to get her door but she’s already beaten him to it, and she stands up but stumbles just a little trying to close the car door.  
  
“Easy there,” he says, gently grabbing her arm to steady her, and he holds onto it and helps her up onto the curb as the car pulls away.  
  
Tessa stares at the bubble machine box in her hands for a moment, as though she’s contemplating something, then looks back up at him. “Do you want to come up for a minute?” she asks.  
  
“Yeah, sure,” he says, glad to have the chance to make sure she gets into her place all right. She leans on him as they walk up to the doors to her building, and she buzzes them in and continues leaning on him all the way to the elevators, where she pushes away from him to jab at the buttons and retreats to a corner.  
  
When the doors open he follows her down the hallway to her door, holding the box as she digs out her keys and lets them in. “Shoes off,” she says to him, and kicks off her own heels and walks ahead of him as she’s taking off her jacket.  
  
“This is a nice place,” Scott says, looking around. The light is on in the kitchen next to him and he sets the bubble machine down on the counter, thinking he should probably just excuse himself now but not really wanting to.  
  
Tessa walks into the kitchen and starts opening the toy, setting everything up while Scott looks at everything but the bare skin of her back. “We need music,” she says to him as bubbles float through the air around her, and she leaves him standing there again. “You can come in, you know,” she calls to him from the other room, and he takes off his shoes and follows her into the living room, where she’s messing with Spotify on her TV.  
  
“So we’re having this dance party right now?” he asks, and a warning light flips on in his head.  
  
“Yes, we are,” Tessa replies. She settles on some music and turns the volume up a little, and then Scott follows her back into the kitchen, which is now filled with bubbles. She turns on the little light above her stove and turns off the overhead light and begins to dance in the middle of the wood laminate floor.  
  
In reality they’re in Tessa’s kitchen after a work party while a $10 bubble machine is spitting soap at them, but in Scott’s mind he’s pretty sure this is the sight that greets people when they get to heaven. The cold dim light from the stove makes her look ethereal, and the iridescent bubbles swirl around her as though she’s manipulating the air like a veil. She moves like a dancer, keeping crisp but graceful time, and he watches her for a minute before joining in.  
  
The music is something that sounds like it should be playing in a club, and that was never really his thing so he does the best he can and hopes for the best. They inch closer together as they dance and Scott can’t help himself, he reaches out and rests his fingertips at the top of her hips. He’s rewarded by Tessa reaching up to rest her arms on his shoulders.  
  
Their faces are inches away from each other, continuing to draw closer and Scott is desperately trying to figure out if he should pull away or just go with it when Tessa abruptly stops dancing and pushes him away. “I’m sorry,” she breathes, and she can’t look him in the eye. “I’m really sorry. I can’t.” So that answers that.  
  
“Hey, no, it’s okay,” he says, pulling his hands back to his sides and taking a step back. “I’m not - I wasn’t trying to-”  
  
“No, it’s my fault, I don’t know what I was thinking.” She turns the overhead light back on and the kitchen turns back into a kitchen with a toy spitting soap at them. “We work together,” she says resolutely.  
  
“We work together,” he repeats after her. “Let’s sit down. Do you want to watch a movie or something?”  
  
Tessa practically runs away from him. “Yes. I want to watch a movie.”  
  
The movie she picks is Moulin Rouge, which Scott has seen but it was ages ago so he doesn’t mind the refresher. He sits on one end of the couch while she curls up on the other end, and he finds himself singing along quietly with Christian in spots where he knows the songs. _How wonderful life is now you’re in the world._

When the movie ends, he looks over to find Tessa sound asleep. Briefly he considers moving her to the bedroom and crashing on the couch, but decides that’s too intrusive. Instead he digs a convenience store receipt for gum and sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and locates a pen, then scribbles a quick note to her and lets himself out, turning the bottom lock on the door.

It’s a cold block and a half to his own apartment, and it relieves him of any lingering traces of alcohol, but does not alleviate any of the utter confusion he’s feeling.

The next day everyone rolls into the office at least two hours late and hungover, and Scott decides he’s just not going to bring it up unless she does. Tessa won’t make eye contact with him for the entire first half of the day, but by lunchtime she’s warmed back up to him and they’re teasing each other about last night’s antics just like everyone else.

“What’d you get up to last night, Tessa? You didn’t even say goodbye!” he hears Kaitlyn ask her at her desk, and Tessa stammers out something about going straight home and watching a movie.

Scott leans back in his desk chair. “Yeah, I tried to get her to go to the strip club with me, but she just wasn’t having it,” he jokes, and the women both roll their eyes at him and go back to talking.

But on her way back from the kitchen, Tessa catches his eye, and he winks at her, and they share a conspiratorial smile.

 

**The (New Year’s) Resolution**

As soon as Scott decided he was moving for certain, he checked his remaining vacation time for the year, discovered it was exactly two weeks, and decided to take all of it to fly home for Christmas. Five days into being home with his family and he’s starting to wonder why he thought that was such a great idea.

It’s not that he doesn’t adore all of them, but when he lived closer he’d spend maybe three days tops staying at his parents’ house and then be on his way back to his own, separate life. He’s forgotten what it’s like to deal with the whole clan for a prolonged amount of time.

Of course, it doesn’t help that he feels like he’s got to watch what he says about Tessa. Anytime he mentions her name Danny starts giving him the side eye, and his mother starts asking questions like she’s trying to ascertain Tessa’s suitability as a future daughter-in-law, so really he can’t win.

The upside is that with so many people running around, it’s easy to keep himself busy helping to watch a small child or cook or wrap presents. It’s how he manages to get off with just a quick reminder from Danny that he should be looking elsewhere for companionship.

And he knows he should be. That’s what’s so infuriating about the fact that he can’t seem to stop thinking about her.

It gets better the longer he’s home, and he’s feeling pretty good about it all the way up until New Year’s. Scott goes out with some buddies who are in town, and the drinks start flowing, and when the clock ticks over to midnight he makes up his mind that he’s going to keep his head out of his ass and just treat Tessa like the professional she is, because she deserves no less.

He gets back to his parents a little before 2, and he’s getting ready for bed when he realizes it’s almost midnight in Denver. That’s when he gets the brilliant idea to pop into his work email and send her a quick “happy new years” and then he passes out before he can brush his teeth.

(He won’t remember sending that email, but it’ll still be up on his phone when he unlocks it for the first time the next day. _You had one job, Moir._ )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me on Tumblr, @beautimous, or on Twitter, @MissSixFics

**Author's Note:**

> Yell at me on Tumblr @beautimous
> 
> OR
> 
> Yell at me on Twitter, @MissSixFics


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